Wayra, Telefónica’s open innovation initiative, held the last week a new edition of its Investors Day at the Official College of Architects of Madrid, in which a total of 9 startups presented their projects to more than 200 investors from Spain, France, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States. During the meeting, Wayra and Telefónica Seguros announced the creation of Íope Ventures, a new investment vehicle designed to invest over the next two years in 15 Insurtech & Fintech startups with tickets of up to €200,000.
Investors Day has been very important for Wayra startups in order to have the opportunity to raise investment while connecting with the most powerful funds in Europe. Among the investors attending this edition were funds such as Softbank, Notion Capital, Indico Partners, Kfund, Draper B1, Adara, JME, Bstartup de Sabadell, Faraday Venture Partners, Kibo Ventures or Seaya Ventures.
A total of 9 startups linked to Wayra Spain presented their projects to the investment funds in pitch format. Crossmint, Indya, Ezzing, YBVR, Kubbo, Champion Games, Qoala, Rosita, Gimme Radio are the main Wayra startups that presented their work.
Irene Gómez, Open Innovation Director of Telefónica, was in charge of welcoming the event that began with a first round table with the participation of Sergio Oslé, CEO of Telefónica Spain, and Paloma Castellano, director of Wayra Madrid.
“Wayra can not only help startups to grow but also ensures that all of Telefónica’s experience and capabilities merge with the added value that startups bring to the growth of both. Telefónica is a natural ally of startups,” explains Sergio Oslé, CEO of Teléfonica de España.
“From Wayra we always help startups to become scaleups. Giving them the opportunity to connect with more than 200 investors from around the world is another step on their way to international success,” explained Paloma Castellano, director of Wayra Madrid.
This was followed by the second round table of the afternoon with the participation of Marta Antúnez, director of Wayra Barcelona, Javier Villamizar from Softbank, Itxaso del Palacio from Notion Capital, and Stephan Morais, co-founder of Indico Partners.
These conferences reflect Wayra’s commitment to co-invest in mature and technological startups together with other co-investors present at the Wayra Investors Day.
